The meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, 1625, Peter Paul Rubens, oil on panel at the National Gallery of Art, Washington

Prime Timers

The Prime Timers were a Bible study group at St. Martin's for eight years. One of the goals of our founder, Jackie Rose, was to have a weekly web page for the group and all the pages are still online here. The group disbanded but the readings below follow the Revised Common Lectionary as adapted for use in Episcopal worship.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, October 20 -- Twenty-second Sunday After Pentecost: Track 1: Job 38:1-7, (34-41); Psalm 104:1-9, 25, 37b Track 2: Isaiah 53:4-12; Psalm 91:9-16 for both: Hebrews 5:1-10 and Mark 10:35-45. The text is from the Bible Study Tools - New Revised Standard Version.

Track 1

Job 38:1-7, (34-41)

¹ Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

² "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

³ Gird up your loins like a man,
     I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

⁴ "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
     Tell me, if you have understanding.

⁵ Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
     Or who stretched the line upon it?

⁶ On what were its bases sunk,
     or who laid its cornerstone

⁷ when the morning stars sang together
     and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

(³⁴ "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
     so that a flood of waters may cover you?

³⁵ Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go
     and say to you, "Here we are'?

³⁶ Who has put wisdom in the inward parts,
     or given understanding to the mind?

³⁷ Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
     Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,

³⁸ when the dust runs into a mass
     and the clods cling together?

³⁹ "Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
     or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

⁴⁰ when they crouch in their dens,
     or lie in wait in their covert?

⁴¹ Who provides for the raven its prey,
     when its young ones cry to God,
     and wander about for lack of food?)

Psalm 104:1-9, 25, 37b

¹ Bless the Lord, O my soul.
     O Lord my God, you are very great.
     You are clothed with honor and majesty,

² wrapped in light as with a garment.
     You stretch out the heavens like a tent,

³ you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,
     you make the clouds your chariot,
     you ride on the wings of the wind,

⁴ you make the winds your messengers,
     fire and flame your ministers.

⁵ You set the earth on its foundations,
     so that it shall never be shaken.

⁶ You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
     the waters stood above the mountains.

⁷ At your rebuke they flee;
     at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.

⁸ They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys
     to the place that you appointed for them.

⁹ You set a boundary that they may not pass,
     so that they might not again cover the earth.

²⁴ O Lord, how manifold are your works!
     In wisdom you have made them all;
     the earth is full of your creatures.

^37b Praise the Lord!

Track 2

Isaiah 53:4-12

⁴ Surely he has borne our infirmities
     and carried our diseases;

yet we accounted him stricken,
     struck down by God, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions,
     crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
     and by his bruises we are healed.

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;
     we have all turned to our own way,

and the Lord has laid on him
     the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
     yet he did not open his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
     and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
     so he did not open his mouth.

⁸ By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
     Who could have imagined his future?

For he was cut off from the land of the living,
     stricken for the transgression of my people.

⁹ They made his grave with the wicked
     and his tomb with the rich,

although he had done no violence,
     and there was no deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.

When you make his life an offering for sin,
     he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;

through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.
     ¹¹ Out of his anguish he shall see light;

he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
     The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
     and he shall bear their iniquities.

¹² Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
     and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;

because he poured out himself to death,
     and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,
     and made intercession for the transgressors.

Psalm 91:9-16

⁹ Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
     the Most High your dwelling place,

¹⁰ no evil shall befall you,
     no scourge come near your tent.

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
     to guard you in all your ways.

¹² On their hands they will bear you up,
     so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.

¹³ You will tread on the lion and the adder,
     the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

¹⁴ Those who love me, I will deliver;
     I will protect those who know my name.

¹⁵ When they call to me, I will answer them;
     I will be with them in trouble,
     I will rescue them and honor them.

¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy them,
     and show them my salvation.

for both

Hebrews 5:1-10

¹ Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. ² He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; ³ and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. ⁴ And one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

⁵ So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,

    "You are my Son,
         today I have begotten you";

⁶ as he says also in another place,

    "You are a priest forever,
         according to the order of Melchizedek."

⁷ In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ⁸ Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; ⁹ and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, ¹⁰ having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Mark 10:35-45

³⁵ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." ³⁶ And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?" ³⁷ And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." ³⁸ But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" ³⁹ They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; ⁴⁰ but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."

⁴¹ When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. ⁴² So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. ⁴³ But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

Thanks to Bible Study Tools for today's text.